Fishing amongst wildlife

Last week i had the good fortune to be invited on a fishing trip along the Snake River from Lewiston aboard a 23`Aluminium jet boat.  From Lewiston known as the gateway to Hell`s Canyon we would be heading  as far as Grand Ronde about 30 miles up river.
The Snake River is 13th in the list of Americas longest rivers at 1038 miles. It meets the Clearwater River in Lewiston and then joins the Columbia River that flows 465 miles  all the way to the Pacific Ocean.

 

So the boat goes in but today that lady on the jetty is from the Sheriffs dept. and is doing a spot check on all boats being launched. The check covers boat registration documents that must be carried, fire extinguishers, life jackets, mufflers (exhaust), flame arresters( stops flame spreading), sound devices(horn), ventilation system(removes fumes from engine space) Anything not to her liking the boat comes out.

Basalt gives some great pictures.

Roger, captain and boat owner.

Petroglyphs at Buffalo Eddy on the Snake River.

The US Mail run up the snake is a tourist attraction.

Wild Turkeys along the shoreline.

Wild Big horn mountain sheep watch the boats go by.

Small mouth Bass, yes it`s small and yes i only caught one. But the environment it was caught in beats fishing by the canal anytime but i would swop it  all  for NB Valerie.

Osprey nest along the Snake River and this one came down several times to fish but sadly to far for my camera to capture. Just drifting and watching this amazing bird was a wonderful experience.Click the link,the pictures are superb.

A little bit of video of the boat trip. Watch you don`t get sick as the boat enters the rapids and the camera shakes violently, i was filming standing up looking over the roof.

JAQ HAS A VISA

Well you can imagine who has a big smile on her face today. An excellent service even though it cost an extra $300 fast track fee on top of the $1149 basic cost.
Sent FedEx Tuesday, arrived New York Wednesday 2pm, approved Thursday noon, Passport and visa arrived back UPS Friday 11am

Just think in 2 years time we can go through all this again to get Jaq permanent leave to remain in the UK.

Out to dinner tonight, i think we deserve it at least Jaq does after all the hard work she put in to those binders.

Had a great day out Wednesday last involving amongst other things Osprey, but that`s another blog.

In the hands of the Embassy

With the biometrics completed in 10mins after a 170 mile round trip the visa application for Jaq could be submitted. Just a final check that everything has been included and that each section is clearly labelled to make it as easy as possible for the UKBA at the Embassy to process the application.

An indexed ring binder application was the recommended way to apply according to an Internet forum of others facing this traumatic ordeal. One binder contains original documents and totals 250 sheets of paper. The other binder contains a photo copy of every document submitted.
As you answer the 11 pages of questions each answer has to have supporting documents to validate your answer. Now this is fine when they ask for example for your bank account details and finances to support your partner, get bank statements etc. Paperwork starts to build when they ask where your going to live and the many sub questions regarding your answer. do you pay rent? do you own it? how long owned? the questions go on just on this one subject, how many rooms? do you have use of all rooms?  The more you can convince them your answers are true the more likely the visa will be issued. So in this case original bill of sale, boat insurance certificate for last 5yrs, boat licence renewal last 5yrs, pictures of inside/outside boat. 16 pieces of paper already, get the picture.

Anyway the 2 binders above are on their way at a cost as i mentioned of  about 725 GB pounds plus we decided rather than risk the estimated up to 2 months process time we paid 187 GB pounds to get it processed in about 15 days. At least with the visa (fingers crossed) in our hands sooner rather than later we can then concentrate on other matters to complete our return to the UK.


At least while we wait Jaq and I can get out and it was while driving down towards Snake River that we came across a Wind Farm or at least the first phase of 149 with the eventual total to be 749 Turbines.

There must have been at least 80 already erected and if i had photographed left and right of the picture i did take you would have an idea of  how little impact these have on the landscape. All the land here is for crop growing and the turbines are hardly noticed among the thousands of acres with no towns nearby and just a farm here and there. The 4 areas siting the 745 Turbines amounts to 123,000acres. The farmers have leased the land for the siting of the turbines so have an income year round.
The Turbines stand 390' high and weigh 340tons. The concrete base is 8' 6" thick. The column is made up of

3 sections, one is pictured above on a road trailer. Below a rotor blade is also brought to the site by road.

 

If you click HERE you will find a short time lapse film of the Turbines being erected.

 

A Chipmunk and a Red Tailed Hawk. The bird was at the top of a tree  and i was lucky that the road climbed up a hillside zig zagging and the car came level with his perch. 

Update from America

The Passport is back so the Biometrics appointment for the 13th July that Jaq booked is the one we will be using. In the meantime the supporting documents for the visa application are almost complete. The online visa application (11 pages) has been completed and the fee ($1149-766sterling) paid. The biometrics receipt has to be sent in with the hard copy application and all the supporting paperwork.

Although i have the car to use and the weather is good, up to 93F, the ability to get out and walk around the open country is restricted by the fact that no right of way exists over the land. The fields around here are all growing crops of Wheat and peas mostly and that`s about all you can see for miles with no hedgerows dividing the fields and very little in the way of wooded areas. Even if you drive out a few miles and find something resembling UK landscape the land is private and you have no right to walk on it.

Cougar

There are places such as Kamiake where we got married that are State owned but these offer nothing like the freedom our UK footpaths give us Brits so i`m telling you all be thankful. Jaq and I drove over the border into Idaho to have brunch with friends who have a ranch consisting of several hundred acres.

We all piled into a 4 wheel drive and had a tour and Larry and  Lael have said i can walk the ranch anytime. Parts of the ranch are heavily wooded slopes and are home to Cougar(Mountain lion) and Bears so a little care has to be taken.

A bit different to the UK where you might meet a Rabbit or a ferocious Fox.  The bear pic was taken at the Washington State University where the Bears can be viewed close up either in their holding pens or in the large open areas they can roam.


One of my new skills is bread making with no bread making machine. A nice tasty loaf i`ve covered in Poppy and Sesame seeds. All that`s needed is flour, water, yeast and time. Leave it 12 hrs to rise and cook for 30mins in a cast iron pot.
Jaq made it work on the boat so i decided to have a go on my own.

A couple of pics taken in and around Pullman, might be of interest to Mike.
2 Harleys on the left and a very nice side car combination on the right. Sorry i`ve lost the paper i wrote the bike name on.

Photo by kind permission of Mrs. Biggs

PAPER CHASE BEGINS

Now Jaq and I have married the Spouse Visa application process that will enable Jaq to enter the UK and remain can begin. The back up paperwork that accompanies the application is mounting with bank details and much more from both sides. I even have to prove my ownership of the boat as that will be our residence.

We have done a lot of research over the past 3 months and one of the things that came up via an ex-pats site on the net was that if when submitting your application the passport was in the married name this would be a big help to establishing your application as being genuine and not just a marriage of convenience to gain entry. So that has been our top priority and the passport has been away for a week with only a guarantee of it`s return within 2-3 weeks even though we paid $60 to fast track it.
Uk border require Jaq`s biometrics to be taken before visa application is submitted.
The passport is needed for the biometrics.
An appointment is needed for the biometrics but we need the passport back first.

Jaq has managed last week to grab online an appointment for the 6th July. No other dates were available in July. So our thoughts have been if the passport is not back we wait till August for the biometrics. Now this girl i`ve married is no bimbo, she has kept an eye on the appointment site and grabbed what we can only assume is a cancelled appointment for the 13th July that was back on the calendar so we now have an extra week for the passport to arrive.

I am now in my 6th week as a non smoker, piece of cake? doddle? easy?.  NO, bloody hard just going cold turkey but i can only say the urge to have a smoke only crops up now and again and for sure the worst is over. I really feel that it would be so easy to have `just one` and screw up 6 weeks of resisting so i`m now fighting that voice in my head "you can go without for 6 weeks so have one and stop again after".
I did buy some Liquorice root, sure it was called Spanish Wood when i was at school,  to chew but it didn`t help so it was back to sheer will power.

Sitting out on the back deck here in Pullman something amongst the Wheat crop caught my eye as it came

down out of the high ground stopping for water. Binoculars  revealed a Coyote that was aware of me but still came quite close before turning away keeping a safe distance from all the homes backing onto his territory.

Robins here are quite common but are much bigger than our little Christmas card star.

Red Winged Blackbird is not only common but makes a hell of a noise.

Black and White hooped jail bird is not so common. This is one of a pair on day release from the local county jail (average population 45) doing some gardening at public buildings in Colfax.


Jaq has asked me to apologise if you have not been able to find her blog, the problem was that by accident she deleted it when setting up a new e mail address. Her present e mail will be lost when she stops using her Internet provider so she signed up to a G Mail address and deleted the old e mail that was also the blog sign in and thereby deleted the blog. Anyway Google have after a lot of  fuss re-instated the blog. What bothers me now sitting here typing this is if we use e mail and password to sign in to our blogs can anyone tell me/us what happens when Jaq`s old e mail is no longer live i.e. when she ceases paying her Internet provider.
Jaq`s blog is here but i warn you Jaq is a writer and this blog post exceeds all others for length ( it includes the wedding) so fill your vacuum flask and make some sarnies before clicking the link.

 

Wedding pics and the service.

Here are some more pics from the hundreds we are lucky to have been given by friends and family. There are so many different ways that a Wiccan wedding can be performed that i shall leave you all to do your Googling.

 I have posted the whole ritual for our wedding HERE and those taking an active part feature in the following pictures.

 The vows that make the it all a legal ceremony are as follows;

Vows

 Do you, Les, take Jaqueline to be your wife,
to be her constant friend,
her partner in life, and her true love;
To love her without reservation,
honor and respect her,
protect her from harm,
comfort her in times of distress,
and to grow with her in mind and spirit?

Les: I do

Of course these words mean nothing if not said in front of not only 2 witnesses but also an ordained minister recognised by the  State here in the U S that you are getting married. A very close friend of Jaq, Patti, got herself ordained on line and so ensured the legality of the marriage.

Un-like the UK the venue for the ceremony does not have to be approved here and enabled us to have an open air service in amongst some stunning scenery high up on Kamiake Butte.




The exchange of rings;
Les, as you slip the ring on Jaqueline’s finger, repeat after me: I, Leslie Charles Biggs; in the name of the spirit of love which resides within us all; by the life that courses within my blood; and the love that resides within my heart; take thee Jaqueline Marie Almdale; to my hand, my heart, and my spirit to be my lawfully wedded wife. To desire thee and be desired by thee; to possess thee, and be possessed by thee; as a token of our love. I promise to love thee wholly and completely without restraint; in sickness and in health; in plenty and in poverty; in this life and beyond; where we shall meet, remember, and love again. I shall not seek to change thee in any way. I shall respect thee; thy beliefs, thy people, and thy ways as I respect myself.


Myself not having any strong religious beliefs found the ceremony very easy to take part in and that`s all i want to say as to compare ceremonies of  several beliefs i`ve attended over the years would not be right here. The Wiccan ceremony was what my lovely Jaq wanted and that`s all that mattered to me.
In the pictures the parts played by people referred to in the text can be read in full at the wedding ritual link HERE.

The ceremony over Mr. & Mrs. make their way down the hill.

The backdrop beats a UK registry office garden anytime.

Myself and the Reverend Patti

Sarah represents West/Water and also Invokes the Goddess.

Adelina not only represented North/Earth but also smudged people entering the circle.

Has your Reverend kissed you lately?

Handfasting part of the ritual.

On the left Steve who brought the Bride to the ceremony and on the right his wife Rev. Patti.

Bill representing South/Fire and also Invokes the God.

Karen who `gives over the bride`.

Jaq`s family, Michael left was holder of the rings-Jaq- Sparky caste the circle, East/Air, anoint of Rose Oil and most of all was my best Girl making sure i arrived etc. To the right of me Jesse holding Connor husband Ben at the back and front of picture Matthew 3rd son of Jesse & Ben.

Jaq and Myself with daughter Shiery (Sparky) in the middle

Jaq and I taking Communion wine.

Just before the Communion begins using Bread and Wine.

Rush Pics